No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani And Bassist Tony Kanal Discuss Performing ‘Don’t Speak’ After ‘Brutal’ Breakup In 1994
Gwen Stefani dated fellow bandmate Tony Kanal? Shocked us to.
Stefani and Kanal revealed to British paper, The Guardian that their popular song "Don't speak" was written about their seven-year relationship -- which ended back in 1994. Performing the breakup ballad night-after-night definitely took its toll on the couple who claimed the time period to be one of the most difficult times of their lives.
"We were on tour for Tragic Kingdom for 28 months. We were going through the breakup, and in every interview we were talking about it so we were opening this wound on an hourly basis. It was so brutal but I don't know how we made it through," Kanal told The Guardian, with Stefani nodding in agreement.
Stefani claimed to have written some of her best songs during the heart-wrenching breakup - isn't that always the case with pain and struggle?
"Before, I was really passive, all I cared about was being in love with my boyfriend," she told the publication. "I didn't have any creative power, nothing. I don't know that person any more. But I'd been really bad at school and didn't know what I would do, I just sang in my brother's band [Eric Stefani, who founded the group, left No Doubt after Tragic Kingdom to work on 'The Simpsons.'] But after the breakup I just started writing all these songs and suddenly I was: 'Oh I think I'm really good at this!'"
The always fashionable rocker eventually found true love with "Bush" frontman Gavin Rossdale and have since repaired her relationship with kanal, even writing another song in his honor called "Cool for him."
"No Doubt" first album in 11 years, "Push and Shove," will be released tomorrow. "We wanted it to sound modern," guitarist Tom Dumont told the Rollingstone. " but we've openly said the album is really made up of influences of things we grew up with.... It opens the question of what is modern? When I hear 'Settle Down' on the radio, it still doesn't sound like anything else."